What I Learned At Alt For Everyone

Before First Session

During Second Session

Late last week, I "attended" my first online conference, Alt For Everyone. The event was put on by the amazing people behind the most well-known business conference for bloggers, Alt Summit; If you're a blogger and you haven't looked into Alt or don't read their blog, I highly recommend it. Life-changing. 

Anyhoopers, I spent last Thursday and Friday holed up in my apartment, yellow legal pad in my lap, taking classes via live video presentations on my laptop, and I loved every minute of it. In my breaks between classes I would emerge out into the sunlight, like a little blogging mole, and try to clear my head in the fresh air before jumping right back in for the next session. 

During this process, I learned SO much. Too much for my newbie bloggie mind to absorb. In fact, I'm slightly overloaded/overwhelmed by all that I took in, but in the best of ways that makes you want to either curl up in a ball and quit, or hit the ground running (so start running I will!).  

After using the weekend to synthesize my notes and organize them into one coherent to-do list (would you expect anything else?), I'm itching to get started on all of my new projects, revamps, and ideas. But, in the meantime, I wanted to share some of the things that I learned that apply to everyone, not just bloggers, and some of the fun things that will be coming to Starr Struck soon...

Basic points from the Alt Keynote Address, "The Art of Being a Goal Getter," by Joy Cho of Oh Joy! 

1. YOU CANNOT WAIT AROUND FOR IT: The only person who will make your goals come true is you.                   Although I know this sounds obvious and somewhat cliche, I love this point. It was such a great reminder for me; I need to go out there and make things happen, not just sit back and wait for things to happen to me. So simple, yet genius. 
2. YOU HAVE TO WANT IT: Tell me what you want. What you really, really want. (It’s ok if it sounds ridiculous.) Joy's point here was one about having goals that seem far-fetched. She explained that no goal is too big or too crazy, and if you want it, you can make it happen (but not overnight).   
3. DO YOUR RESEARCH: Who or what will be the best fit to accomplish your goals?                                                  Don't be afraid to go after what you want, but be sure you're prepared before doing it. Research, prep, and be ready to put in the hours it takes to actually achieve your goals. Know your field or what you're asking for/going after. 
4. PUT TOGETHER A PRESENTATION THAT SHINES: How will you show your ideas & convince someone of them? When you go after what you want, you need to blow people away. Explain the how, the why, the when, the where of your idea. Why is it relevant? What can you do that is different from others? This can apply to many different outlets/goals. 
5. “NO” IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD: You won’t always get what you want, but it will pave the way for something else. (Maybe, even, something better.)                                                                                                                      Joy had a fabulous story here about NOT getting her "dream job" designing for Anthropologie. Because she didn't get that job, she eventually started her own design business, and now Anthro carries her products. Amazing. 

As you can tell, I found Joy's talk to be extremely powerful because she is living the dream, and has created an empire out of her hard work and her ability to achieve her goals. She told a story to back-up each of these points, which really hit home for me. She went out and got what she wanted, despite failure, being told no, and coming up against obstacles. She is one. Inspiring. Lady. Check her out!

Super fab creative resources for bloggers, creatives, and beyond:

• Color.hailpixel.com: Looking to build a color scheme for ANYTHING? Look no further. Easy to use and super addictive for anyone obsessed with color
• Dafont.com: Super cool site for free font downloads
• BlogHer: Largest community of women who blog (worth joining if you're a woman blogger!)
• Nicolesclasses.com: Take online classes in photography, design, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign
• Lynda.com: Take unlimited software, business, and creative skills classes for a very low monthly membership rate (I'm signing up in June!)
• Alt Blog: Great informational posts for bloggers
  
• Design-seeds.com: Another fabulous site for coming up with color schemes
• Free, royalty-free music sites: incompetech.com and joshwoodward.com 

Things to get excited about--coming soon to Starr Struck:

• Yoga videos (You've been asking, and I promise, they're on their way!)
• How-to videos
• Monthly newsletter
• Blog style board
• Clearer goals, a vision statement, and a blog mission: businesses have one, so I should, too!
• Downloadable media (on Etsy)

I hope you're looking forward to these changes as much as I am! I cannot wait until I have more space in my schedule next month. Have I said that yet? 

#soexcited.